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Dock decision on demarcation
Demarcation disputes are not new. For too long they have been part of the British working scene. These inter-union "Who does whatr confrontations have disrupted production lines in most industries in the past 25 years.
One demarcation boundary which has gone unchallenged until recently is that of dock work and the decision issued this week by the Industrial Tribunal in Southampton will undoubtedly have far reaching ramifications. It affects a situation which has been in existence since 1946, when by Act of Parliament it was made an offence to use unregistered dock labour on dock work. The Tribunal states, and quite logically, that when a container is on a trailer it is not ship's cargo and therefore is not dock work and subsequently need not be handled by registered labour. A similar argument will be heard shortly in Liverpool and the decision may be affected by the Southampton decision.
The Bristow Committee's report on the handling of goods passing through the Port of London is still in dispute although for the moment it appears to be gathering dust. The Southampton decision may send up a dust cloud around Tilbury.
The decision for the eight Southampton hauliers involved means greater flexibility and greater vehicle utilization. By challenging the Dock Labour Board's definition of dock work the Southampton operators may very well have served their colleagues in the rest of Britain's ports. But the whole affair poses one or two questions: why has it taken 25 years for the challenge to come? What has it cost the country in under-utilization? It is by no means certain that the labour force at Southampton will take the decision lightly, and industrial action cannot be ruled out. As both drivers and dockers are in many cases members of the same union, it will be interesting to see how the union handles any dispute which may arise.